Have you ever looked for something for so long? Looked almost everywhere you could think of? Talked to everyone you could think of that might know something about it? And then finally (well, almost) give up on trying to find it?

Marriage License for Harry Clemmons and Edith Carter. 12/22/1940

Marriage License for Harry Clemmons and Edith Carter. 12/22/194 eryone you could think of that might know something about it? And then finally (well, almost) give up on trying to find it?That was me trying to find the marriage certificate for my grandfather Harry Clemmons and grandmother Edith Carter. I was told, even seen it in writing from my grandfather, that they were married in Elizabethtown. Thought that would be easy enough to find. I had even stopped by Elizabethtown, Ky to see if I could get a copy. I drive by there often enough. No luck. Then I find out that there are three Elizabethtown’s in the tri-state area. I called each of them to try and find the records, they couldn’t find them. Online databases were not any help.

Now, after about 20 years of looking for it, I stumbled upon it when I went to findmypast.com for the first time to start searching. It came up on the first search. They were not married in Elizabethtown at all. They were married in Morganfield, Kentucky on December 22nd, 1940. There was nothing earth shattering in the license, other than where they where they were married. But I am so happy to have finally have found it!

Over this Memorial Day weekend, Fold3 is allowing people to search military records for free! This was the perfect time for me to search for my grandfather’s (Harry Clemmons) draft card. Searching for the record was really easy, I just went to the web site and from the main page did a search on his name. I did add one filter, I put in his year of birth – 1918. Within seconds, I was greeted with his search results:

I could tell that the card was filled out by my grandfather. He only made it through the 8th grade in school, he never attended high school. It shows his date of birth and where he was born (Morehouse, Missouri). He listed his father as Mr. Earl Green Clemmons as the name of the person who will always know his address (I will come back to this in a bit). It shows that he is living in Barnhill, Illinois. On the backside, it shows his height as 5′-11″ and weighing 155 pounds. His serial number is 2035 and his order number is 1703.

Lisa Louis Cooke, on her blog, has a great description of how the serial numbers and the order numbers work.

The first number drawn of the 7,836 serial numbers that were printed on paper and placed in individual capsules was No. 158. This number belonged to Harry Robert Bell, a 21-year-old from Washington D.C.. The hundreds of men across the United States pulled in this first drawing were all given an order number of 1.

On the back of the card, Harry didn’t put the date he filled out the card so I am going to have to make some assumptions. He is listed as 22 years old, which would put the date that he filled out the card between June 17, 1940 and June 16, 1941. I also noticed that he listed his father as the person who will always know where he is. Harry got married to Edith Carter on December 22, 1940. I am assuming that he would have listed Edith if they would have been married already. This at least narrows down the time frame that he could have filled out the card to somewhere between June 17, 1940 and December 21, 1940.

One thing that I do not know about, is who Olney R Ryan is. Harry listed that as his current employer that was located in Fairfield, Illinois. I am going to have to take a look a bit further. I am wondering if this is one of the gas stations that he worked at when he was young.

I have been following Dick Eastman for a fairly long time (over 15 years or so) and I saw his post on Using a Chromebox as My Primary Day-to-day Computer on his Privacy Blog. It was a very good article with one exception and here is what Dick Eastman got wrong. In his post, he made the following comment:

“Next, Chromebooks and Chromeboxes never get viruses. They are safe and very secure for use anywhere online.”

When I read that, I was very surprised. It is true that Chromeboxes cannot get Windows viruses, its absolutely not true that they are very secure for anywhere on the internet. Malwarebytes Labs has a great, easy to read, article about this on their site Yes, Chromebooks can and do get infected.

One of the newer types of malware for computers (over the past couple of years) is Fileless Malware. This type of malware doesn’t install itself anywhere, there are no exe’s to install. It runs within the browser environment. Chromebooks/boxes are susceptible to this type of an attack.

No matter what type of computing environment that you use (Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome), always lead with security in mind first. Its a computer, it CAN be hacked. There is nothing on this world that isn’t hackable, given time, money and resources.

I haven’t always been a list maker. Up until a couple of years ago, I rarely used lists to remember things. But running a business and trying to keep track of what I am needing to do with genealogy has lead me to use Sticky Notes. These notes are built right into your Microsoft operating system.

I normally have a few Sticky Notes on my desktop at all times to track my personal to-dos or reminders. But you can use the Sticky Notes to write a to-do list, jot down a phone number, or anything else that you would use a pad of paper for. The best thing about using them? They wont fall off of your monitor!

To start Sticky Notes, click on the Start Button and type Sticky Notes in the search box and then click on the Sticky Notes in the search results. This will launch the Sticky Notes Program. Sticky Notes can also be found under All Programs and then under Accessories.

You can create new notes by clicking on the new notes button (the + at the top left) or by pressing Ctrl+N.

You can remove a note by clicking on the x at the top right of the note You can resize the note by placing your cursor on the edge of the note, then click and drag it to the size you would like.

You can also change the color of the Sticky Note by right clicking on the note and selecting the color that you would like.

There are a few options to use to format the text of your Sticky Note. To format your text highlight the text in your note and use one of the keyboard shortcuts below.

The Sticky Notes is a great little tool to use if you only need to track information for a short amount of time. At some point, I will introduce you to Trello that will take things to the next level and even let you collaborate with others.

Funeral services fro Mrs. Reich will be 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 20, at Ligon & Bobo Funeral Home with the Rev. DonMcElroy officiating. Interment will be in the Cedar Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. (today) Wednesday, Oct. 19, and after 9 a.m. until the service on Thursday.

Mrs. Reich, 96, of Lebanon passed away Monday, Oct. 17, 2011, at the Pavilion. She was born in December 1914, in Wilson County, Tenn., the daughter of the late Joe A. Clemmons and Lou Effie Eskew Clemmons. She graduated from Lebanon High School in 1934. She was a member of First Baptist Church and LLL. She was a homemaker.

Dolores was my uncle Tom Clemmons’ wife. She was a very sweet woman and she will be greatly missed.

78-year-old Fairfield resident, Dolores Elba (Vest) Clemmons died at 8:40 p.m. Saturday, May 5 at Way-Fair in Fairfield. She had worked for GTE as a telephone operator.

Survivors include a daughter, Gina Thomason of Keenes; a grandson, Tyler Nolan Lowell Thomason of Keenes; her mother, M. Margaret Vest of Fairfield; a step-daughter, Debbie Reese of Mims, OH; two step-sons, Randy Clemmons of San Diego,CA and Robert Clemmons of Fairfield; four step-grandchildren; three step-great-grandchildren and a brother, Gordon Vest of Henderson, KY.

Services for Dolores Elba Clemmons will be 11 a.m. Friday, May 11 at the Johnson & Vaughn Funeral Home in Fairfield with burial in Maple Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 – 7 Thursday evening, May 10 at the Johnson & Vaughn Funeral Home in Fairfield.

Lula Clemmons was my Great-Great Grandmother. She and her husband (William Keaton Clemmons) only had one child that survived, Earl Green Clemmons.

I was recently in Fairfield, Illinois and I had just a short time at the library. I didn’t realize that it closed so early on a Saturday. I had time to do one thing and I was able to find Nancy’s obituary in the Wayne County Press Microfilm. Here is the text of the obituary:

Funeral services were conducted at the Dixon & Crippin Chapel Sunday afternoon by Rev. Dewey Merritt. Burial was in the Barnhill cemetery.

Nancy Lucinda Clemmons, oldest daughter of Henry and Amanada McGuire, was born January 21, 1871 near Birdsmill, Tenn.

She was united in marriage to William K. Clemmons May 23, 1886. To this union were born four children, three of hwom died in infancy. One son, Earl G. Clemmons, of Barnhill, with whom she made her home, survives. Her husband died in 1924.

She was converted in early life and united with the Methodist Episcopal church of Birdsmill, Tenn. After her marriage she united with the Missionary Baptist church of Birdsmill, Tenn., where her membership remained.

Besides her son, Earl, and family, she is survived by one brother, Dan McGuire, of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; a sister, Jessie Shelton, of Ravenden, Ark., and one step-brother, Henry Clifton, Mt. Vernon; four grandchildren, six great grandchildren.